Lead-in wire orienting apparatus



Oct. 25, 1955 E. L. MIDGLEY ET AL 2,721,584

LEAD-IN WIRE ORIENTING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 51, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS ERIC L. MIDGLEY CHARLES A. YOUNG i ATTORN Y Oct. 25, 1955 E. 1... MIDGLEY ETAL LEAD-IN WIRE ORIENTING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 31 1951 INVENTORS ERIC L. MIDGLEY CHARLES A. YOUNG BY 5 i ATTOR Y Oct 1955 E. L. MIDGLEY ET AL LEAD-IN. WIRE ORIENTING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Ill 7673 70 48 Filed Dec. 51 1951 M Y mw O G N T D R N Aa EM 0 V .5 w m m r 9 WA 1 RH EC I United States Patent 9 LEAD-IN WIRE ORIENTlNG APPARATUS Eric L. Midgley, Salem, and Charles A. Young, Gloucester, Mass, assignors to Sylvania Electric Products Inc., Salem, Mass. a corporation of Massachusetts Application December 31, 1951, Serial No. 264,338

3 Claims. (Cl. 140-715) This invention relates to the manufacture of wired electrical devices and more particularly to the orientation of the lead-in wires of electrical devices during the manufacture thereof.

In the manufacture of many electrical devices, such as lamps, radio tubes and electronic devices, for example, it is necessary to orient the lead-in wires thereof in order to satisfactorily accomplish one or more of the manufacturing operations. In many cases, this orientation is performed by an operator. Since manual orientation of the lead-in wires is time consuming, the speed with which the manufacturing operation requiring this orientation may be accomplished is adversely affected. In the manufacture of fluorescent lamps, for example, the operator who loads the exhaust machine orients the lead-in wires in order to insure satisfactory eifectuation of the cathode break-down and lighting-up operations which are performed on the exhaust machine. Since these two operations are accomplished by the passage of electric current through the lamp lead-in wires, it is essential that the lead-in wires be properly positioned to insure positive engagement thereof with electrical contacts on the machine.

An object of this invention is to orient the lead-in wires of electrical devices during the manufacture thereof.

Another object is to provide automatic means for effecting this orientation.

A further object is to provide equipment for manufacturing electrical devices with an attachment for automatically effecting lead-in wire orientation.

The foregoing objects and others are attained, in accordance with the principles of the invention, by locating a lead-in wire orienting apparatus transverse to the path through which electrical devices, having lead-in wires extending therefrom, are caused to travel. The lead-in wire orienting apparatus engages the lead-in wires and bends them to desired pre-determined positions. In the specific embodiment of the invention shown in the accompanying drawings and described below, the leadin Wire orienting apparatus is illustrated and described in connection with the orientation of a pair of lead-in wires of a fluorescent lamp. In this embodiment, the orienting operation is performed in three stages. In the first stage, a knife-like finger is inserted between the two wires very close to the lamp envelope from which they project and is moved downwardly therebetween to effect initial separation of the wires from one another. In the second stage, a wedge is employed to effect a further separation of the wires from one another. In the third stage, the wires move across a wire spreading plate which effects the final spreading and orientation of the wires.

In the drawing,

Figure 1 is a fragmentary plan view of a fluorescent lamp conveyor showing the location of an embodiment of the invention associated therewith.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of a part of the conveyor of Figure 1 showing the location of a specific ice embodiment of the lead-in wire orienting apparatus of this invention with respect to the work.

Figure 3 is an end elevational view of the lead-in wire orienting apparatus looking in the direction 3-3 of Figure 2 and illustrating particularly the final spreading and orienting operation.

Figure 4 is a plan view of the lead-in wire orienting apparatus partly in section and taken along the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a side elevational view of the lead-in wire orienting apparatus showing the knife-like finger thereof operating on the lamp lead-in wires to effect initial separation thereof.

' Referring now to the drawings, particularly Figures 1 and 2 thereof, fluorescent lamps 10, having lead-in wires 12 projecting from a re-entrant end 13 thereof, are carried by heads 14 of conveyor 16 to a plurality of work stations. The conveyor 16 comprises a pair of endless link chains 18 and 20 disposed in register with one another and mounted on sprocket wheels located at opposite ends of the conveyor, the upper sprocket wheel 22 at one endbeing the only one shown. Sprocket wheel 22 is mounted on idler shaft 24 and the pair of sprocket Wheels at the other end of the conveyor are mounted on a drive shaft (not shown) which is driven through conventional means (not shown) by a conveyor drive shaft 26. The conveyor 16 further comprises base plates 28 (one of which is shown) with standards 30 (one of which is shown) upstanding thereon to which parallel spaced beams 32 are attached. Bearing plate 34, which bridges beams 32, supports idler shaft 24. Each of the heads 14 which are attached to the link chains 18 and 20 comprises a back plate 36, a pair of spaced bearing blocks 38 in register with one another and mounted thereon, a pair of shafts 40 mounted in the blocks 38 and two pairs of lamp-gripping jaws 42 mounted on the shafts 40.

The conveyor 16 has a plate 44 extending between two of the standards 30 (Fig. 1) from which the lead-in wire orienting apparatus is supported by bracket 46 (Fig. 3). Bracket 46 has a block 48 attached thereto and a rocker shaft 50 supported thereby. Rocker arm 52, which is mounted on rocker shaft 50, has a cam roller 54 at one end thereof which engages cam 56 mounted on drive shaft 26. The other end of rocker arm 52 is bifurcated and is provided with a pair of pins 58 which frictionally engage a collar 60 mounted on one end of shaft 62.

Shaft 62, which is spring loaded, extends up through block 48 and is provided with a bar 64 and a saddle 66 mounted on the top thereof (Fig. 5). Stops 68 and 70 are mounted on bar 64.- Plate 72 is pivotally mounted in the saddle 66 by means of a pair of pointed pins 74 which support a shaft 76 therebetween (Fig. 4), the shaft 76 extending through the plate. Plate 72 is provided with a knife-like finger 73 and a projection (Fig.5) and awedge 77 (Figs. land 5).

A stop 78 and a bracket 80 are mounted on the top face of block 48 (Fig. 5). A pair of spring loaded ball bearings 82 are mounted opposite one another in the bracket 80 and are in frictional engagement with plate 72 (Fig. 4). The pressure exerted on the plate 72 by the ball bearings 82 may be adjusted by manipulation of screws 84 which back up the springs 86 (one of which is shown in Fig. 4). A wire spreading plate 83 is mounted on rod 90 upstanding on the block 48.

Fluorescent lamps 10 are fed to the conveyor 16 by some suitable means and are carried by the heads 14 to a plurality of work stations, the link chains 18 and 20 moving in the direction indicated by the arrows in Figures 1 and 2. The lea-din wire orienting apparatus is shown in the rest position in Figure 2. Immediately after a lamp 10 has been indexed to station A, the high side of the cam 56 engages the cam follower 54 and rotates the rocker arm 52' in a counter-clockwise direction thus causing the shaft 62 to move upwardly until the knife-like finger 73 enters the re-entrant end 13 of the lamp 10 and is disposed adjacent to the two lead-in wires 12.

The shaft 62 then starts its, downward stroke., The drag on the plate 72 exerted by the ball bearings 82 (Fig. 4) during the initial portion of this downward stroke of the shaft 62 tilts the plate 72 as shown in Figure 5 until it strikes the stop 70. This tilting of the plate 72 throws the finger 73 between the lead-in wires 12. The downward stroke of the shaft 62 continues with the plate 72 tilted until the projection 75 thereof strikes the stop 78. Further downward movement of the shaft 62 effects a return of the plate 72 to its normal position shown in Figure 2, the stop 68 defining the limit of this return.

In order to maintain the finger 73 between the lead-in wires 12 during the return rotation of the plate 72, the conveyor is indexed to move the lamp from station A to station B. as soon as this return rotation of plate 72 is started. As the lamp 10 moves from station A to station B, the lead-in wires 12, which have been initially parted by the finger 73, are further parted by the wedge 77 (Figs. 1 and 5 As the lamp 10 moves into station B, the lead-in wires 12 engage the periphery of plate 88 and are spread further apart thereby (Fig. 3). The dwell at station B, with the lead-in wires 12 held spread apart by the plate 88 as shown in Figure 3, is of sufficient duration to overcome much of the inherent springiness of the wires and causes them to remain in substantially the same position after the lamp has been moved from station B. This completes the lead-in wire orienting operation. The conveyor then carries the lamp to an unloading station where it is removed and loaded on an exhaust machine with the lead-in wires properly oriented for the cathode break-down and lighting-up operations normally performed thereon.

What we claim is:

1. In apparatus for advancing to a plurality of work stations an electrical device having a pair of lead-wires projecting from a re-entrant end thereof, a lead-wire separating apparatus disposed at one of said work stations, and comprising: a finger disposed in axial alignment with an electrical device at said one of said work stations; means for reciprocating said finger into and out of the re-entrant end of the electrical device; and means for moving said finger between the lead-wires as it starts the return stroke of its reciprocation, whereby said finger is drawn through the lead-wires and effects separation thereof from one another during the return stroke of the reciprocation of said finger.

2. In, apparatus for advancing to a plurality of work stations an electrical device having a pair of lead-wires projecting from a re-entrant end thereof, a lead-wire separating apparatus disposed at one of said work stations, and comprising: a rod; a plate pivotally mounted on an end of said rod, a portion of said plate comprising a finger disposed in axial alignment with an electrical device at said one of said work stations; means for reciproeating said rod to move said finger into and out of the re-entrant end of the electrical device; and means engaging said plate for effecting movement of said finger between the lead wires as the finger starts the return stroke of its reciprocation, whereby said finger is drawn through the lead-wires and effects separation thereof from one another during the return stroke of the reciprocation of said finger.

3. In apparatus for advancing to a plurality of work stations an electrical device having a pair of lead-wires projecting from a re-entrant end thereof, a lead-wire separating apparatus comprising: means disposed at one of said stations for effecting preliminary separation of the lead-wires from one another, said means comprising a finger disposed in axial alignment with an electrical device at said one of said work stations, means for reciprocating said finger into and out of the re-entrant end of the electrical device, and means for moving said finger between the lead-wires as it starts the return stroke of its reciprocation, whereby said finger is drawn through the lead-wires and effects a preliminary separation thereof from one another during the return stroke of the reciprocation of said finger; a wedge, disposed between said one of said work stations and a second work station and lying in the path traversed by the lead-wires of the electrical device, for effecting further separation of the lead-wires from one another; and a wire-spreading plate disposed at said second work station and lying in the path traversed by the lead-wires of the electrical device for effecting further separation of the lead-wires from one another.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,161,002 Merritt Nov. 16, 1915 1,901,087 Dalheimer Mar. 14, 1933 1,907,532 Flaws May 9, 1933 1,920,630 Conn Aug. 1, 1933 2,297,950 Flaws Oct. 6, 1942 2,337,055 Mathias Dec. 21, 1943 2,380,742 Flaws July 31, 1945 2,434,165 Juvinall Jan. 6, 1948 2,554,013 Cooper May 22, 1951 2,570,186 Almgren Oct. 9, 1951 2,653,631 Vaughan Sept. 29, 1953 

